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Lutheran gay-advocay group changes name

By: JoAnne Viviano

The Columbus Dispatch - June 12, 2012 05:42 PM

A group that has been advocating for gay rights in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church since the 1970s has changed its name.

The St. Paul, Minn.-based Lutherans Concerned/North America says
it will now call itself
ReconcilingWorks to better represent its work.
Its new logo includes a multi-colored heart and the phrase “Lutherans for Full
Participation."

"The name ReconcilingWorks is a clear response to the biblical
injunction to all Christians to be reconciled to God and to each other,” Emily Eastwood, executive
director of the group, said in a news release. “The name instantly testifies that reconciling,
indeed, is successful as the means to build a fully inclusive church and society.”

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted in 2009 to allow
the ordination of gays in committed relationships. In 2011, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Canada voted to allow openly gay members to serve as clergy and to permit the legal marriage or
blessing of same-sex couples.